The 2003 Brother Bear probably isn’t as remembered as other movies to come from the studio in the years leading up to its release, but that shouldn’t take away from Phoenix’s stellar performance as Kenai, a young man who is turned into a bear to learn a lesson.
This one could be considered cheating, but it was too good not to include.
Years before he took on the role of the “Crown Prince of Crime” in Joker, and even before he played the drifter Freddie Quell in The Master, Joaquin Phoenix led his very own Disney animated movie.